Possible to combine discounts?

New here, looked for a "search" function but no luck. Wife + I just finished a trip on Coast Starlight + thought we'd plan a couple more. Previously, only train trip was to Parris Island for boot back in '68. Anyway, my question is, can you combine discounts? We're seniors, vets, + AAA members. If not, seems it would be better to book hotels ourselves rather than goin thru Amtrak. Appreciate any input.

Nope. Can't combine discounts for Amtrak travel.

https://www.amtrak.com/deals-discounts/everyday-passenger-discounts.html?content=EverydayDiscounts

Also, while there are discounts that apply to the rail fare, those discounts don't also apply to sleeping accommodations.

The cost of sleeping accommodation includes rail fare.

So the cost of a Roomette for 2 has 1 charge for the roomette and 2 rail fares.

Each type of discount usually has other limitations too:

https://www.amtrak.com/deals-discounts/everyday-passenger-discounts/seniors-discount.html?content=SeniorDiscount

https://www.amtrak.com/deals-discounts/everyday-passenger-discounts/veterans-advantage-members-discount.html?content=VeteransAdvantageDiscount

https://www.amtrak.com/deals-discounts/everyday-passenger-discounts/aaa-adult-passenger-discount.html?content=AAAAdultDiscount

Amtrak sometimes has fare specials, but I don't know of too many businesses (and Amtrak is a business) that make a habit of combining discounts where a customer can consistently get deep discounts. These are promotions designed to attract travelers with a discount where they can still try to recoup their costs. A 10% or 15% discount is still one where they can justify it, but if you could manage to combine several for a 50% discount it's not one that works for Amtrak.

But short answer - no. They only allow one discount at a time.

You can not combine more than 1 discount. Price each out and chose the lowest fare. (The Senior discount is 15% off the full fare, but AAA is only 10% off the full fare.) But also be careful - some special fares may be lower, so if using them you may have to chose adult as your fare! (The special fare may be 30% off, but if you chose AAA it will revert to only 10% off the full fare!)

@the_traveler:

Good to know!

EVERY NOW AND THEN...

I sometimes 'price out' each segment of my trip at both 'full fare adult' and 'senior'. Sometimes I find the full fare lower than the senior rate, most often in Business Class on the NEC. The Amtrak reservation computer gets mildly 'upset' when I logon as I'm a senior, but it still accepts full-fare booking.

As an aside, when using the free one-class upgrade passes I got for AGR Select and a year ago, Select Plus status, I can never recall if I have to pay a couple dollars extra when making the upgrade for getting 'senior' price or 'saver' price selection. The coupons state 'full fare', so these days, I think I have to use full fare rate for the lowest bucket when I book. Stated differently, booking at senior rate AND using an upgrade coupon apparently counts as combining discounts/offers.

bratkinson said:

As an aside, when using the free one-class upgrade passes I got for AGR Select and a year ago, Select Plus status, I can never recall if I have to pay a couple dollars extra when making the upgrade for getting 'senior' price or 'saver' price selection. The coupons state 'full fare', so these days, I think I have to use full fare rate for the lowest bucket when I book. Stated differently, booking at senior rate AND using an upgrade coupon apparently counts as combining discounts/offers.

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I have always found the upgrade and/or companion coupons were only good when paying full fare. No discount was allowed.

Thanx for the responses!

me_little_me said:

I have always found the upgrade and/or companion coupons were only good when paying full fare. No discount was allowed.

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That has been my experience also. However, not that I believe anything coming from AGR, my coupons state

Upgrade may be combined with corporate, AAA, disability, NARP, military, student, and senior discounts

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I couldn't find anything saying that you can combine the upgrade with the discount, but have to pay extra.

Back in the good ole days of AGR1.0,( when I still had Status) Anthony, the founder of AU, and then working @ Amtrak in the AGR Program,clarified the policy which states exactly what PaulM quouted!

Another case of Amtrak employees making up their own rules on the fly!